Congratulations to Vhoebe, a Belgian Malinois, who broke the world record for dock diving at an incredible 32 feet, 3 inches.
Vhoebe’s world record jump happened on Saturday, 6th October 2012 at the 15th Annual Purina Pro Plan Incredible Dog Challenge.
Vhoebe, who lives in San Diego with her guardian, practices five to six times per week. She’s very fit!
Posted in Dogs, special dogs and awards
Tagged Beligan Malinois, diving dog, Purina, purina pro plan, Vhoebe, world record, world record jump
This story came to me a few weeks ago via a friend’s email. So I did a bit of digging to get the full story.
Suryia is an Orangutan and Roscoe is a a Blue Tick Hound. They live together at The Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species (TIGERS) in South Carolina, where they met in 2008 when a thin Roscoe followed caregivers back to the reserve.
The two became fast friends and now have a book about their story.
When you purchase it from their website, proceeds go to support wild orangutan conservation in Borneo.
Ordinarily, dogs and primates don’t mix but this pair proves an exception to that rule!
Posted in Dogs, special dogs and awards
Tagged Blue Tick Hound, Borneo, orangutan, Roscoe, South Carolina, Suryia, TIGERS
International Assistance Dog Week runs from 5-11 August this year.
The week is all about the dogs who help people manage life with disability. The goals of the week are:
The IADW website contains information on events near you (primarily in the USA) but hopefully my home country of New Zealand will join in next year.
By the way, I support:
What dog assistance charities do you support?
Congratulations to John Tovey and his guide dog, Dez, who not only won the Guide Dog of the Year award but also a Life Changing Award on 19th July at the Specsavers Guide Dog of the Year Awards in London.
John is only 44 and lost his eyesight two years ago to diabetes. In going blind, John also lost the ability to do his job as a fitter (he’d worked on projects like the Channel Tunnel). Enter Dez, a Black Labrador…
‘I just fell in love,’ says John.
Now Dez wakes him up every morning at 7:30 wanting to be fed. And John has quality of life again.
Read more about John’s story in this BBC News article.
Posted in special dogs and awards, Uncategorized
Tagged Black Labrador, Dez, fitter, Guide dog of the year, John Tovey, labrador, London, Specsavers
Sky TV (our cable channel) has been airing the film Apollo 13 for the millionth time and so, as my mind wanders, I started thinking about the first dog in space.
Her name was Laika, which means Barker in the Russian language. She was found as a stray dog but ultimately was sent into orbit on Sputnik 2 on November 3, 1957.
A photo of Laika in her specially designed space capsule
Her successful launch into space was the subject of a lot of fanfare and heralded as an achievement by the Russian space programme. Over the years, her launch into space was celebrated in a range of postage stamps from around the world.
Back in 1957, people were told that Laika lived almost a week in space before dying a painless death. In 2002, those facts were disputed at the World Space Congress in Houston, Texas, by Dimitri Malashenkov of the Institute for Biological Problems in Moscow.
He reported that Laika died from overheating and panic just a few hours after the mission started.
Dr Malashenkov revealed several new details about Laika’s mission at the conference, including that the dog was chained to prevent her turning around and that her food was prepared in a jelly format for space travel. There was a carbon dioxide absorbing device in the cabin to prevent the accumulation of this toxic gas as well as an oxygen generator (similar to what was used in Apollo 13).
Medical sensors attached to Laika showed that her heart rate increased by to 3 times its resting rate during the launch. Other sensors showed that temperature and humidity increased as the space ship attained orbit. Within five to seven hours of flight, mission control in the Soviet Union stopped receiving life signs from Laika.
Laika achieved a place in history for her flight into space, which proved that life forms could survive (with support) in orbit. Unfortunately for Laika, she lived in a time when animal experimentation was an accepted norm.
Source: BBC News
The winning design features a firefighter looking upon his detection dog, who is ready for duty
The non-profit organisation National Fire Dog Monument has been successful in its fundraising to build a monument to Certified Accelerant Detection Dogs. The bronze statue is entitled “From Ashes to Answers” and will be permanently displayed in front of a fire station in Washington, DC.
The inspiration for the dog in the sculpture is Erin, Colorado’s first arson dog who died from cancer.
As the statue is transported to its final home, there will be a roadshow from June 21 to 28, 2012 stopping in 12 cities starting in Denver, Colorado and ending in Washington, with other stops in Kansas, Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. The full schedule of stops can be found here.
Arson dogs are trained to detect hydrocarbons and other accelerants that are used to deliberately light fires. The use of dogs in this service is yet another way that working dogs are used to benefit communities and the new monument is a fitting tribute to their contribution.
The US Postal Service has a set of four stamps honouring service dogs.
The Dogs at Work set shows a guide dog assisting a blind woman, a tracking dog that is following a scent, a therapy dog visiting with an elderly woman and a search and rescue dog standing in a field.
In releasing the stamps for sale, the USPS said “Dogs have become more than just best friends — they’ve also become our coworkers. From guide dogs to therapy dogs to search and rescue dogs, these stamps from the U.S. Postal Service® honor the enduring partnership between dogs and people.”
“Currently, some 10,000 guide dogs in the U.S. and Canada serve as an extra set of eyes for people who are blind. Therapy dogs, chosen for their friendly dispositions, bring comfort and joy to the elderly and the ill. Dogs that work with police and military personnel are trained to detect drugs, guns, and explosives. Search and rescue dogs speed up search efforts, increasing the odds of survival for disaster victims.
Artist John M. Thompson created original paintings for the stamps, which were designed by art director Howard E. Paine. The Dogs At Work stamps are being issued at a 65-cent denomination, which is the price for single-piece retail First-Class Mail weighing more than one ounce and up to and including two ounces.”
Posted in Dogs, special dogs and awards
Tagged Dogs at Work, guide dogs, search and rescue, therapy dogs, tracking dog, US Postal Service, USPS, working dogs
Beyonce was born on 8 March 2012 to Casey, a pregnant dog that was scheduled to be euthanised. She claimed the title of the World’s Smallest Puppy because she could fit into a teaspoon! She wasn’t expected to survive but proved everyone wrong.
Beyonce was saved because of the efforts of The Grace Foundation of Northern California, an animal rescue and rehabilitation facility. Her story was picked up widely in media outlets including CBS, The Washington Post, the Associated Press and Reuters. Now The Grace Foundation is using Beyonce’s celebrity status in a new fundraising campaign for Mother’s Day.
Named the I’m a Survivor Fund (after the Beyonce song), funds will be used to save healthy mums and their puppies. Many of these dogs are euthanised in shelters across California and the wider United States (3.4 million in total each year) because of a lack of facilities and adoptive families.
The messages from the Tiny Beyonce campaign are simple:
1. Spay and neuter your pets to prevent overpopulation of our furry friends
2. Adopt from rescues and shelters to save animals in need
3. Help a rescue or shelter save lives. Volunteer or donate services, resources, or money
All moms (and mums) deserve recognition on Mother’s Day. Why not make a donation to the I’m a Survivor Fund as part of your Mother’s Day gift?
Today around New Zealand, people have stopped their daily activities to commemorate another Anzac Day.
Did you know that New Zealand has its own special dog hero from World War I? His name was Caesar.
A Bulldog, Caesar led the grand parade down Auckland’s Queen Street as the NZ Rifle Brigade left for the war. Caesar was trained as a Red Cross dog and worked at the Battle of the Somme in 1916. Dogs were particularly valuable to rescuers in No Man’s Land, as they helped to locate wounded men at night.
Caesar was killed in action. His collar (which has his name spelled incorrectly) is on display at the Auckland War Memorial Museum.
Caesar's collar, with his name spelled incorrectly
Author Patricia Stroud has written about Caesar in her book, Caesar the Anzac Dog. Illustrated by Bruce Potter and published by Harper Collins, the book is useful for teaching schoolchildren about the war. The publisher also offers a study guide for teachers.
Our local newspaper ran a story recently about a little dog that woke her owners when their garage caught fire. Luckily, the damage was fairly minor and all (including the dog) escaped harm.
It was that story that got me thinking about all of the stories we hear, year in and year out, about dogs that act instinctively to warn their owners of danger or to get help. Here’s just a few dog hero stories that I’d like to share about dogs who have saved their owners or alerted others about fires.
_____________________________________________________
Brutus alerts sleeping family to burning garage (February 2012)
Dog alerts sleeping family to house fire (December 2011)
Dogs saves owner during house fire – Clyde the Great Dane! (November 2011)
Dog warns Daytona man of fire in house (November 2011)
Dog warns man of house fire (October 2010)
And one last video, taken from the camera on board the vehicle of an Alaskan State Trooper – showing the family dog Buddy leading the officer to the family’s home which was on fire…
Kathleen Crisley, specialist in dog massage, rehabilitation and nutrition/food therapy, The Balanced Dog, Christchurch, New Zealand
Posted in special dogs and awards
Tagged Alaska, alert, Brutus, Buddy, Daytona Beach, Dog, fire, german shepherd, house fire, Max, owners saved, rescue, state trooper
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